Marcelo Laca, University of Victoria
"On the Matter of Numbers"
Over the past 35 years several C*-dynamical systems arising from number theory have been constructed and analyzed, with the expectation that their symmetries, energy spectra, and equilibrium states will (eventually) yield insight on key questions about number fields. I will start with a brief and inevitably incomplete retrospect of these systems, highlighting their main features interpreted as properties of `numerical substances'. I will then focus on a new C*-dynamical system based on the semigroup of ax+b transformations of the integers that was introduced in recent joint work with Astrid an Huef and Iain Raeburn, and finish by discussing current joint work with Tyler Schulz, in which we show that this system has an unprecedented type III phase transition in the high temperature range.
This seminar will be held both online and in person:
- Room: MC 5479
- Zoom link: https://uwaterloo.zoom.us/j/94186354814?pwd=NGpLM3B4eWNZckd1aTROcmRreW96QT09